• Horng-Chyuan Lin, Sang-Heon Cho, Aloke Gopal Ghoshal, Abdul Razak Bin Abdul Muttalif, Sanguansak Thanaviratananich, Shalini Bagga, Rab Faruqi, Shiva Sajjan, Camilla L Cahill, Kim K Hamrosi, and WangDe YunY.
• Department of Thoracic Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea National Allergy Asthma Bronchitis Institute, Kolkota, West Bengal, India Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence (CORE), Merck & Co., Inc. NJ Life Sciences, Optum, Sydney, NSW, Australia Department of Otolaryngology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Jul 1; 95 (27): e3854e3854.

AbstractChronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and rhinosinusitis are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) study was a cross-sectional, observational study which examined the disease and economic burden of AR, asthma, COPD, and rhinosinusitis across Asia-Pacific using 1 standard protocol. Here we report symptoms, healthcare resource use (HCRU), work impairment, and associated cost in Taiwan.Consecutive participants aged ≥ 18 years presenting to a physician with symptoms meeting the diagnostic criteria for a primary diagnosis of asthma, AR, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants and their treating physician completed surveys detailing respiratory symptoms, HCRU, work productivity, and activity impairment. Costs including direct medical costs and indirect costs associated with lost work productivity were calculated.The study enrolled 1001 patients. AR was the most frequent primary diagnosis (31.2%). A quarter of patients presented with a combination of respiratory diseases, with AR and asthma being the most frequent combination (14.1%). Cough or coughing up phlegm was the primary reason for the medical visit for patients with asthma and COPD, whereas nasal symptoms (watery runny nose, blocked nose, and congestion) were the primary reasons for AR and rhinosinusitis. Specialists were the most frequently used healthcare resource by patients with AR (26.1%), asthma (26.4%), COPD (26.6%), and rhinosinusitis (47.3%). The mean annual cost per patient with a respiratory disease was US$4511 (SD 5395). The cost was almost double for employed patients (US$8047, SD 6175), with the majority attributable to lost productivity.Respiratory diseases have a significant impact on disease burden in Taiwan. Treatment strategies that prevent lost work productivity could greatly reduce the economic burden of these diseases.

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